Jakob Lenz, aadel ja balti kirjanduslik aadlimaastik

Jakob Lenz, the nobility, and the Baltic literary landscape of nobility

The nobility has played a central role in Baltic literature since the 18th century, and even more so in the 19th and 20th centuries. On the one hand, there is a disproportionately high number of aristocratic authors – especially women. On the other hand, the nobility is portrayed in literature in a wide variety of ways: as individuals and social groups, as landowners and rulers of peasants, and as enlightened or unenlightened. This article explores how Jakob Lenz (1751–1792) and his works contribute to this tradition. His works clearly demonstrate a broader literary and critical interest in the nobility and its social world, as evidenced, for example, by the character of the Hofmeister, through whom, according to Guthke, Lenz depicts the aristocratic milieu as “almost caricatured to the point of the bizarre”. However, the question arises as to how such literary portrayal relates to Lenz’s own life and, more specifically, to his personal experiences in Livonia.